Matt Payton drove in five runs, including two on a triple during the decisive second, and came up a single short of the cycle for Western Kentucky (8-2).

McGuiggan led off the game by legging out a triple after sending the second pitch he saw from starter Tanner Perkins into the gap in right center. He scored when the next batter, Jason Ganek, hit a deep fly ball to center that was caught for a sacrifice fly to put UIC up early.

Western Kentucky evened the game in the next half-inning when Payton hit a solo shot off of starter Rafael Garcia. The Hilltoppers then put up a six-spot in the second, as five of the first six batters of that frame reached safely and four extra-base hits brought in five of the hosts' six runs.

UIC would not go away, scoring a run in the third on Ryan Meehan's RBI double, tacking on a run in the fifth when Rutta went yard, and putting two on the scoreboard in the sixth courtesy of back-to-back RBI from McGuiggan and Ganek. But a pair of two-run innings following the six-run second gave Western Kentucky enough breathing room the rest of the way.